The author is shown at the
point
halfway up Ben Nevis - photos by
Charlotte Turner

Fort William, Scotland: Gateway to
Highland Adventures

By Charlotte Turner

Fort William is a town primarily known for being home to
the United Kingdom’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis.
The mountain has been particularly important in the
development of the town’s identity, with Fort William now
claiming the title of ‘the outdoor capital of the UK.’ A
significant-sized town in a fairly remote landscape, Fort
William acts as gateway to Highland adventures.

Why Go?

Although perhaps this is an obvious
tourist attraction to many overseas visitors, many
British have an unfortunate habit of overlooking
their homeland completely when it comes to planning
their annual holidays.

Due to a combination of ridiculously low airfares from
the numerous budget airlines dotted throughout Europe and
the famously unpredictable Scottish weather, a week in
the Mediterranean often sounds far more tempting on first
glance.

Quite frankly, the possibility of spending
our precious holidays squelching up a mountain
makes us shudder. But I can now prove that, even if
the weather lives up to its deserving reputation,
this charismatic town has some of the most stunning
and dramatic countryside that the British Isles has
to offer.

When to Go

Well, I went in August, supposedly the
middle of summer, and it rained three days out of
four. Rather unhelpfully, I kept being reminded
that I had just missed a mini heat wave and some of
the best weather the area had ever seen.

Any vaguely patriotic Scot will tell you that the
Highlands look fantastic whatever the weather, and the
mist only makes them more dramatic. I have to admit to
being a bit skeptical about this at first, but in all
honesty, the wet weather did not spoil our holiday at
all. My main piece of advice as far as this is concerned
is to pack your wet weather gear and a couple of fleeces
whenever you visit and take your chances.

View from the trail up Ben
Nevis

Getting there and
around

I live in London, and as my original plan
had been to camp, I arrived in the area by car.
Although we spread the journey over several days,
driving via Nottingham to visit friends and
Edinburgh to check out the Scottish capital, the
drive would have taken about 12 hours in total,
taking secondary ‘A’ roads. We took the main
Eastern artery, the A1(M), which runs from London
to the far tip of the Yorkshire Dales and then took
the A68, otherwise known as the Jedburgh Road, to
Edinburgh.

From Edinburgh, your choice of roads to the Highlands
becomes very limited and there are three roads that take
you directly to Fort William. The route runs alongside
the famous Loch Lomond, and the roads are in fantastic
condition.

The main concern throughout the year, but particularly in
winter, would be bad weather hindering driving
conditions. If you were in a hurry, traveling on the
motorway and entering Scotland via Glasgow would be the
best bet, but you miss the toursity, but essential,
opportunity to take a photo of yourself in front of the
rock heralding ‘England’ on one side and ‘Scotland’ on
the other.

The Scotland
Stone

By air, most international flights will
fly into London Heathrow or London Gatwick, where
you get your connecting flight to Scotland. If you
haven’t pre-booked your internal connecting
flights, one tip that I would pass on to those
traveling on a shoestring would be to check out the
London Stansted-based budget airlines on the
internet before committing to a deal with an
overseas based travel agent.

It is possible to find ‘free’ flights on these websites
at any time of year, (where you only pay the airport
taxes), to many other UK and European destinations. You
may not be lucky in finding a deal at the time you are
traveling, but it is certainly worth a look.

The Scottish rail network is good, linking major cities
and tourist hotspots. If coming from the North, it
is also possible to travel from Inverness by boat,
although this would depend on the season, tides and your
budget.

Best Attraction

Would it be too obvious to say Ben Nevis?
The mountain itself is obviously a major draw for
visitors and contributes greatly to Fort William’s
commercial success. Even for those who are not that
crazy about mountaineering, there is a rather
convenient halfway point that is not a particularly
difficult climb and is very
well-trodden.

The view of Ben Nevis from the
hostel

Although it is possible to do a round-trip
from this point, I was advised by staff at the Glen
Nevis Information Centre that this walk would
finish about seven miles away from the starting
point, and so I would have needed to research what
times the buses ran along the road, (and I got the
feeling that they were not that frequent.)

As a fitting finish to your physical exertions, there is
a pub situated right at the foot of the main path which
proves to be a rather effective incentive in your
scramble back to the bottom.

Climbing is not the only way to see the mountain range.
For any level of cycling ability, follow the signs from
Fort William to Glen Nevis Information Centre. Just
before the centre, turn right into the
Braveheart carpark.

From here, I cycled along a slightly hilly, stony path
running right along the foot of the mountains and
parallel to the road. For the more adventurous, ‘The
Witch’s Trails’ are a series of rides ranging from ‘easy’
to ‘severe,’ (‘severe’ described as only being suitable
for expert mountain bikers.) Go into the tourist
information, any hostel or a cycling shop in the town
centre to pick up a leaflet and a map detailing these
routes.

View from the start of the Ben
Nevis trail

Other Attractions

Neptune’s Staircase, situated
just outside Fort William in the small town of
Banavie, is definitely worth a look. Located
opposite ‘Chase the Wild Goose’ hostel, (see
below,) or on the road into Banavie from Fort
William, this series of locks on the Caledonian
Canal is an impressive feat of nautical
engineering.

Best Lodgings

For those traveling on a budget, I cannot
recommend the Chase the Wild
Goose hostel too highly.
Situated just outside Fort William in a village
called Banavie, this was the last hostel I tried as
we drive through torrential rain on the road to
Fort William from Edinburgh. Charging £14-£15 a
night, this hostel has 4-8 bedded rooms, and the
facilities were better than most hotels I have
stayed in.

Each bed had a thick winter duvet, (which, I discovered,
you need in the Highlands of Scotland even in the height
of summer) and the bathrooms were spotlessly clean and
almost better than my bathroom at home!

The Ben Nevis
trail

There was a TV room, free DVD loan, a
reading lounge, free bike storage, local food/
transport/ tourist folders of information and free
tea and coffee.

For £2 deposited in an honesty box, there was a
self-service breakfast available 24 hours of cereals,
toast, juice, tea or coffee.

If you are traveling without transport, buses run into
town from outside the hostel. Overall, this hostel had
the nicest atmosphere of anywhere I have stayed.

An invaluable source of information if you are hostelling
around Scotland is the Blue Hostel Guide, which
lists independent hostels across the country. These often
work out to be cheaper than the SYHA, (Scottish Youth
Hostel Association), unless you are a member as there is
a small surcharge for non-members.

One problem we did encounter with budget accommodation
was the lack of mixed dorms or twin rooms. Having
traveled as part of a couple previously, I was used to
twin/double rooms being the exception rather than the
norm, and all the hostels I contacted only had one such
room, usually booked months in advance.

However, most of the hostels I contacted would not allow
a couple into what would normally be a single-sex dorm,
even if we were likely to be the only ones in it and
offered to move if necessary.
Chase the Wild
Goose proved exceptionally
helpful, allowing us to use an eight-bedded room at
no extra cost as they were not expecting to be
full. When the hostel started to get busier, they
asked if we were willing to share with an Italian
lady and her 5 year old son who had experienced the
same problem.

The loch at the halway
point

For those with more money to spare, there
are numerous B&B’s, (bed and breakfasts),
littering the roads surrounding Fort William. If
you go to the tourist office, they will help you
find the type of lodging you want.

Dining

As a Londoner, I had lived my entire life
with the promise that London is the most expensive
place in the UK. I found this to be a myth, as the
rest of England appears to be catching up at a
phenomenal rate.

If you’re hostelling, I would recommend making full use
of the cooking facilities. Chase the Wild
Goose used to be a Bed and Breakfast
according to the manager and so the kitchen was equipped
to a similar standard as a commercial one.

There are small supermarkets in both Fort William and
Banavie which make cooking by far the most economical
option, especially if you are in a group of two or more.
Chase the Wild
Goose had a folder listing local
eateries, which ranged from fish and chip shops, to
Chinese restaurants to cafes serving soups, sandwiches
and jacket potatoes. And I am sure you can find a bit of
Haggis around, although being vegetarian, I have to admit
I did not try this particular delicacy.

Charlotte
Turneris a part-time travel writer
and primary school teacher from
London. She has previously taught
in China and travelled throughout
Asia.